streaming

Public radio for iPhone

Public Radio Tuner is a free app that gives you fast, live access to high-quality radio programming on hundreds of public radio stations, in your area or from anywhere in the country--even over slower EDGE connections. This excellent, easy-to-use app has added many refinements since its introduction, and you can now browse by state, search for call letters or other descriptors, find local stations using your device's GPS location, and easily create a list of favorites.

Public Radio Tuner isn't a general purpose radio tuner, though--it can only help you listen to public radio stations, primarily with NPR … Read more

And the Web TV wars go on, and on, and on

Wow. With all the drama and in-fighting among cable companies, TV content creators, and Web video companies this week, you'd think the whole industry was one big junior-high cafeteria. Oh, wait, it kind of is.

First, Hulu--a joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp.--pulled its content from TV.com (which is owned by CBS, publisher of CNET News). Then it did the same with Boxee, a company that makes software designed for watching online video on TVs via set-top boxes. The reason for these measures appears to be either mounting pressure from the TV content owners … Read more

Netflix may offer streaming-only pricing in 2010

Netflix is considering offering a streaming-only pricing tier as soon as next year, according to comments made by CEO Reed Hastings in a report by Bloomberg.

The streaming-only membership could be popular among those with Netflix-enabled devices (such as the Roku Netflix Player, Xbox 360, and LG BD300) who want streaming access without the full cost of a Netflix membership. Netflix hasn't said how much the streaming-only tier would cost, but we'd assume it would be less than the current entry-level $9-a-month unlimited plan.

On the other hand, we're still on the lookout for Netflix to start … Read more

Wunder Radio reaches out to Windows Mobile

There's no shortage of streaming radio apps for mobile phones, but lately it seems that far more have been readied for the iPhone than for Windows Mobile. On Thursday, Wunder Radio (download), already a popular iPhone radio app, also became available for Windows Mobile phones.

It may not be the prettiest radio app out there, but Wunder Radio packs in a ton of stations provided by Radio Time, around 36,000. The stations span everything from talk radio and Weather Underground's local weather reports to the browsing, searching, and genre-scouring you'd expect from a streaming radio application. … Read more

TuneWiki readies streaming Internet radio...with (legal) lyrics

Updated 2/11/09 at 6:50 P.M. PT to add more context to the licensing debate and to correct Amnon Sarig's title.

Back in October, we took a look at close look at TuneWiki, a media enhancement application for Google Android that scrolls through a song's lyrics as you play a song or YouTube music video. The company announced this week an update to its free Android application that will let you also stream Internet radio on your phone. The update, which will be submitted to the Android Market this Saturday, will give streaming songs TuneWiki'… Read more

Report: Apple to stream video to iTunes users

Apple is preparing to allow iTunes customers to stream video from the company's servers to any Web-enabled device, according to a film industry source.

The source declined to provide details but did confirm a report published Wednesday by the blog AppleInsider, which broke the news.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

According to the report, Apple is working on a feature for iTunes 8 that will enable users to stream movies and TV shows "for playback anywhere," and in this way help them avoid having to store large video files on their hard drives.

The service will … Read more

An equal-opportunity player

Providing one-stop shopping for all your video needs, open-source and cross-platform Miro deserves much of the praise that's been heaped upon it. The latest major point to version 2.0 continues to impress.

The concept is brilliant, yet simple: Create a video player that can subscribe to and download video podcasts while managing the videos you've saved on your hard drive. On the face of it, this might sound like iTunes, but the sharing component is an essential aspect of the program. Miro has always been geared toward video and it shows in the program's design. When … Read more

An equal-opportunity player

Vudu slashes price--now $149

Vudu has cut the price of its entry-level BX100 set-top box in half. Effective immediately, the box will retail for $149, down from $295.

It's not the first price cut for Vudu. The product debuted at $399 in September 2007, then dropped to $295 in January 2008. But unlike the $200 movie credit at Best Buy during last year's holiday buying season, the new price cut isn't a temporary promotional deal. Vudu is also axing prices on the Wireless Kit (was $99, now $79) and the Vudu XL (was $999, now $499).

The BX100 was already one … Read more

Stream video to your PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360

Streaming video and other media to your Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 is a lot easier than you might think. You'll want to start weighing your options with the help of a very detailed feature from CNET sister-site Gamespot, which lays out all of your video streaming choices. Things may get a bit dicey during the configuration of these programs, so don't forget Google is your friend.

When you stream content to a console, you'll need to use a network-connected computer to serve the media. For best results, we really recommend a wired connection as you'll … Read more